The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 870

"And the result? Mom despised me. Her eyes were only ever on you; her entire world revolved around you. When you were in college and I was navigating my senior year of high school—the most critical time of my life—she never once cooked my favorite meals. But every weekend when you came home, the dining table was groaning under the weight of all your favorite dishes! Do you have any idea how furious that made me? How violently jealous I was?"

"Later, when the family went bankrupt, Maxwell's friends thought you had the right look and wanted to sign you to an entertainment agency. Maxwell only took you out to one networking dinner, and Lucille absolutely lost her mind. She fought with him so viciously that she busted his head open. She refused to let you step foot in that dirty industry, screaming that it would ruin you. She called you a delicate flower she had meticulously raised, and she wasn't about to let a place like that taint you."

"When Maxwell tried to sneak you out of the house, Lucille deliberately told me to steal your dresses. She even ordered me to cut them to shreds just to stop you from leaving. Otherwise, why would I have done it? I wasn't psycho; I had no reason to randomly destroy your clothes."

"Eventually, Maxwell had to give up on the Hollywood route because she made it so impossible. Then, he schemed to marry you off for a payout. Again, Mom fought him tooth and nail. She argued that since she hadn't given birth to you, she had no right to dictate your marriage, insisting that you should be allowed to choose your own husband."

"Maxwell got smarter after that. Instead of dragging you on blind dates, he orchestrated The Hospital Standoff. He used the fake rescue to take a knife for Ferris, turning that 'life-saving favor' into leverage to force Ferris to marry you."

"It was meant to be a subtle manipulation, and Maxwell was terrified Mom would ruin it again. But the second she heard you were going to marry Ferris, she was even more thrilled than he was. She went straight to you, demanding you marry him, completely waiving any bridal dowry, and rushing you to sign the marriage papers."